


Communication is Key

by ancestrallizard



Category: Persona 2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 23:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12994506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancestrallizard/pseuds/ancestrallizard
Summary: Just two guys on a date.





	Communication is Key

**Author's Note:**

> vaguely holiday-themed oneshot

Tatsuya glared at the box that housed his latest attempt at baking as wilted flowers soaked in a vase by the door, ignored the burnt cloying smell that lingered in his apartment even with the open window, and tried to reason out when his plan went wrong. 

It’d started well enough. He and Jun hadn’t had chances to go on dates before they left for separate colleges, and their schedules made face to face interactions scarce. With upcoming overlaps in days-off, his boyfriend would be coming over to stay with him awhile, and Tatsuya would make the most of their limited time together. Jun had mentioned almost two years ago that he wanted to go to a French restaurant with him, and it was about time Tatsuya made good on that wish. When he brought it up in one of their daily calls, as well as going to a movie, Jun’s voice perceptibly brightened, and it sent dizzying bubbles of joy through Tatsuya like a happy, non-lethal embolism. 

Unfortunately Tatsuya was not made of money. After looking up the average prices of the few French restaurants anywhere near him, he thought of his emaciated wallet, and settled for a nearby café instead. There was French food there, he was pretty sure, so it should hopefully compensate for the lack of an actual French restaurant. 

The problems might have started with Tatsuya’s choice of gifts. He wanted to make him éclairs, since he mentioned liking them in passing, and get him flowers, (Which might be odd considering Jun was coming to see him instead of vice versa, but he needed at least one fool-proof element to their evening). Tatsuya had never made them, had never even eaten one, but he could figure it out. It was just baking. If Katsuya could do it, how hard could it be?

Two hours and three scrapped batches later, he was forced to conclude it was indeed fairly difficult. 

The things he pulled out of the oven on the fourth attempt were scorched past recognition, but Tatsuya didn’t have time for a fifth. He still had to buy flowers, and his bike was out for repairs. 

It definitely went downhill after he left. It was only after he made it to the florist, red faced and out of breath and trying not to sneeze at the cloying scents in the cramped shop, when he put his hand into an empty pocket, did he remember that he left the list of needed flowers at home. Already running late, he picked out flowers on a whim – they looked pretty, so their meanings had to be good, right? Halfway between the florist and home, he had another realization, this one being that he could have just asked the florist for help. 

Which left him without food, the right flowers, or a bike to take him anywhere. 

A knock at the door dragged him from his ruminations. Tatsuya gathered the flowers and went to open the door, dread unfurling sharp and heavy in his chest. 

The sight of Jun in the hallway, smiling at him, small suitcase in hand and rainwater on his hair and jacket, helped though. It helped a lot. Tatsuya pulled Jun into a hug, unmindful of the flowers he held. Jun dropped his suitcase and hugged back, his grip tight and almost imperceptibly shaking “I missed you.” Jun said, the words muffled from where his face pressed into Tatsuya’s shoulder.

Tatsuya wanted nothing more than to just stay in, to hold Jun and listen to him talk until the sound and weight and warmth of him convinced him that he was really there, even if it was only for a few days. But they needed to head out for food if nothing else. He stepped back and gave Jun the flowers. 

Jun’s expression morphed from happiness to something tinged with confusion. “Hyacinths?”

Were those wrong? “I was going to get better flowers, but. I panicked.” 

It sounded stupid out loud, but Jun didn’t look angry, so maybe their meaning wasn’t bad after all. At the very least they weren’t burned.

As if Jun heard his thoughts, he looked past Tatsuya to plate on the table behind him. “What’s that?” 

“Pastries,” Tatsuya answered. “Sort of. Don’t eat them.”

 

Tatsuya first learned of the Spoonbill Café from one of its co-owners when he’d fixed her motorcycle at his part-time job at the repair shop. She was stoic, with a taut jaw and an angry expression only augmented by a faded scar that cut through her brow, but she proved to be patient and overall kind. After a long week and string of impatient, insufferable customers, she was enough of a relief for Tatsuya to start talking with her despite himself. Also, her leather jacket was cool.

Her name was Suzuki, and in addition to owning a very cool bike and jacket, nearby ran a diner with her partner, Aoki. She’d been happy enough with the repairs that she invited him to eat there on a discount (though the short, clipped offer sounded more like an order than anything). He made a habit of going after the first visit. The food was good, the coffee even better, and he ended up getting along with Aoki as well. Over ten years with Suzuki had acclimated her to interpreting silence, and she knew intuitively when small talk, questions, or reciprocal silence were desired. 

As it was still fairly early in the evening, the place was barely half full when Tatsuya and Jun arrived. Suzuki and Aoki were behind the long counter along the far wall, Aoki writing on a notepad and Suzuki bent over the coffee machine. Aoki looked up when the door hit a hanging bell and rushed over to meet them, smiling brightly. She was a bit shorter than Jun, with brown skin and eyes, and hair only slightly streaked with grey. 

“Tatsuya! It’s been awhile!” If possible, her smile brightened when she looked at Jun, whose hand tightened fractionally around his boyfriend’s. “I’m Aoki, and that’s Suzuki.” she said, gesturing to the woman by the coffee machine. Suzuki curtly nodded to them, then turned back to the machine.

“And you must be Jun! Tatsuya talks about you so much, it’s wonderful to finally meet you.”

Jun’s hand loosened around Tatsuya’s somewhat, and he grinned. ”Does he really?” 

“Oh, all the time!” she said. “Once he gets started it’s hard to get him to stop!” 

“I’m going now,” Tatsuya said, and went to find a seat. Jun joined him, thankfully before he started asking any more questions. 

In the wait between ordering and receiving their food, Tatsuya silently took in the surroundings as he often did, and his attention was magnetically drawn to the man sitting across from him. Jun always looked good, and the present was no exception, but he looked even better than usual. It could have been due to his floral blouse and jacket, or the faint make-up around his eyes and on his face, or maybe just by virtue alone of him being Jun.

And Tatsuya was still wearing a baking powder stained shirt and pants torn at the knee. 

Jun frowned. “Is there something on my face?” 

“You’re beautiful.” 

He blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and then averted his eyes, blushing faintly “Oh.”

Jun spoke haltingly at first, like he was out of practice, until he got more confident and spoke fairly rapidly about his job and people he’d met since the last time he’d seen Tatsuya and physics and some kind of math Tatsuya’d never heard of and only half understood even after Jun explained it twice. 

This is what he wanted back at his apartment. He couldn’t very well hold Jun in a restaurant, but having him back, hearing him in person and not just over the phone, soothed a part of his spirit he never realized was agitated. The peace of being with Jun, the muted ambient noise of the café, the sugary taste of the pastry he’d gotten, flowed over to Apollo, and their combined contentment chased away any lingering cold from outside. 

(He had to remember to keep a tight leash on that feeling. Once he’d gotten so suddenly happy about finding a stray cat in front of a house down the street that he’d made a garbage can spontaneously combust. The cat scratched him, and the couple who lived there weren’t fond of the sudden trash fire.)

He was enjoying himself immensely, which is why he was caught so off guard when Jun’s conversation flowed to his education classes, and his face fell and voice died all at once like a switch was turned off. 

Jun quickly changed the subject and kept talking, but quieter and more vaguely than before. He looked ill.

Tatsuya lightly touched Jun’s hand and inclined his head towards the door.

He hesitated for a few moments, but then his shoulders slumped. “Yeah.” 

He went to pay Suzuki as Jun left, but she waved away the money. “You barely ate anything, it’s fine. Tell Jun he’s always welcome back.”

He was leaning on the wall. His face was tired. “Sorry, about inside.”

Tatsuya shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal.

“Sorry,” he said again, and if Tatsuya wasn’t worried before he definitely was now. 

“Do you want to leave?”

Jun shook his head. “No. I’m fine. I want to go see the movie.”

He still didn’t seem fine, but Tatsuya would take his word for it for now. 

Only a few pedestrians were out, all bundled tight against the encroaching cold. The sun was rapidly sinking, painting the sky in a burnt orange and yellow haze. He wrapped his arm around Jun’s shoulders, and he sighed and leaned into him. Tatsuya realized that his boyfriend’s makeup might have been there in part to hide bags under his eyes. He hugged Jun to his side, as if the gesture could ward off whatever troubled him.

Jun should be able to enjoy himself while he was here, and Tatsuya would try his best to make that happen. 

 

‘Try’ being the operative word. 

“I’m sorry, but that screening is sold out.”

That wasn’t too much of a problem. Tatsuya had a backup option in mind that looked romantic enough at first glance.

“That one’s sold out too.”

This one couldn’t be –

“Sold out.”

Or – 

“Assume most of them are sold out.” The ticker seller said. Their tired dark eyes went from him to Jun and back in an expression that might have been pity but was more likely exasperation and a desire to keep the line moving. “There’s an older movie still playing, most people have seen it already. Want to see that?”

He looked to Jun for confirmation, and then nodded. The title was a weird one for a romance, but he’d be damned if at least one part of this date didn’t go well. 

 

“The killer’s gone, you can look up now.” Jun whispered.

But Tatsuya kept his head ducked and his shirt collar pulled up around his eyes. He could just hear the shrill violin strings building to another crescendo. 

“How are you scared by this? You’ve fought actual demons." 

"That was different." Tatsuya muttered, reply nearly lost in his shirt. 

A chord screeched, followed by a gory squelch he didn’t want to think about. 

“Oh. I though he was gone. I didn’t think they’d be that predictable...” 

He nearly jumped out of skin when Jun touched his shoulder. “Do you want to leave?”

Tatsuya nodded, and they left as an incompetent police officer interrogated a probably doomed teenager. 

The sun was long gone, and had taken its light and warmth with it. He held Jun’s hand and walked close to him, both for warmth and because he was more afraid of passing shadows cast by streetlights and dark alleyways than he would like to admit. 

“It was actually pretty funny.” Jun mused quietly beside him. “The effects were terrible.” 

Tatsuya couldn’t contribute, having shut his eyes after the first jump scare ten minutes in. His boyfriend was feeling better, though, so any potential nightmares later that night worth it. 

His lightened mood gave Tatsuya a fleeting burst of courage. “Um,” He began eloquently. 

Words never felt like enough. They were small and frivolous and could hurt so much easier than they could help. But Jun was in some kind of distress and he needed to know, without ambiguity, that Tatsuya was here for him. “Are you ok? I feel like, something’s bothering you.”

Quiet settled around him, and Jun looked a bit lost again, but he didn’t let go of Tatsuya’s hand “Yes. No. Not really, its just – “ he stopped short, then said more definitively, “I’ll tell you, but can we talk about it tomorrow? ”

He nodded. Tomorrow would work. But he still couldn’t share off how sad and tired he looked when they met earlier at his apartment. He stopped walking, and Jun followed suit, giving him a questioning glance, streetlights reflecting in his eyes like stars. 

Tatsuya had already started talking, might as well keep going. “I promise I’ll help. And whatever it is, I won’t love you any less.”

Pure, blank surprise took the place of melancholy. But why was he so surprised? Tatsuya hadn’t said anything that strange, except – oh. 

Well, he would have said it eventually anyway. He looked away, though he knew it wouldn’t hide the blush flaring across his face. He might have prematurely ruined his resolution to communicate more by embarrassing himself into silence forever. 

Jun squeezed his hand. “Okay,” he said, a smile in his voice. “And I love you too.”

Maybe talking didn’t always have turn out so bad.

Across the street a tree caught fire. 

(Even with his boyfriend sleeping beside him that night, Tatsuya left a light on. Both agreed to avoid horror movies next time they went to a theater.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still not satisfied with the end result of this but ive had it in wip since June so, might as well publish it now. Jun talks about what's bothering him the next day, they work it out.
> 
> ive got a tumblr and im no less awkward over there: ancestrallizard.com


End file.
